GAARMS Report: February 2016 
Fred Gibbs
GAARMS V, the fifth General Aviation Accident Reduction and Mitigation Symposium, is planned to be held on a Saturday morning in March from 9:00AM to Noon, at the ASU campus on the Williams-Gateway airport. As you probably already know, GAARMS is a major joint safety initiative by the Arizona Pilots Association (APA), The Arizona Safety Advisory Group (ASAG), and the Scottsdale FSDO Safety Program, directly targeting the Arizona-based and trained pilot community. As a member of APA, it is one of the many benefits we offer. We strongly urge you to attend, and to bring a “Wingman”! Stay tuned and watch for more information later this month on our website, in the March newsletter, and it will also come out in Late February/early March as a FAA safety program with WINGS credits.
At the GAARMS symposium, we will be dissecting the two fatal accidents that occurred in-state (Arizona) during calendar year 2015, as well as the two fatal out-of-state accidents involving Arizona-based aircraft. All four of the accidents involved Arizona-based pilots. To the best of my knowledge, none were APA members, and none of them ever attended an APA safety program or seminar. While GAARMS will (attempt to) go deep into the accidents, in a nut-shell, there were three accidents that occurred during the takeoff phase of flight. Two are still actual causes unknown, and the third one was categorized as a Loss of Control, an apparent, but not verified, low level stall. (One should never be too quick to pass judgment, or assume anything about an accident is simple, until ALL the facts are uncovered.) The fourth, the recent helicopter crash, is also cause unknown. All of these accidents will be analyzed, scrutinized, and sanitized, so we can present them to you without any finger-pointing or blame. The intent is to educate you about what and how it happened, NOT who to blame, so that you can learn from others’ mistakes. That is a critical part of flying – and life – learning from other folks’ mistakes, because none of us will live long enough to make all of them ourselves!
With regard to the ever-growing controversy and aggravation over unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise referred to as those “pesky drones,” Lockheed Martin flight Services has taken some innovative approaches to addressing both the user interface (of drones into the airspace) as well as the pilot notification issues associated with those “pesky drones.” On the next page is a copy of the article as it appeared in the December issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology.
If any of our members or readers of our newsletters experience an issue with a drone, be sure to report it to the nearest ATC facility and to us (The APA safety program folks) or the Arizona Safety Advisory Group (ASAG) so we can track any issues here in the state to possibly help alleviate any future issues. The FAA also just released a new regulation requiring all drones over 250 grams (9 ounces or .55lbs) to be registered with the FAA, and each drone is required to have the FAA-assigned registration number – which is NOT an “N” number - affixed onto the drone (or any and all drones you personally own). By the way, did you know that the FAA actually prohibits ANY drone flights within the 30 mile SFAR around Washington, DC, except by prior permission?